Drax AGM 2014 – No to coal and biomass!

Drax power station in Yorkshire is converting 3 of its 6 units to run on biomass. Since its last AGM it has converted and opened one unit and burned up to 5.5 million tonnes of green wood (mostly imported) – that’s equivalent to more than half of the UK’s annual wood production. At full capacity this unit alone will have netted them £190 million in subsidies. When all 3 units are converted they’ll be looking at almost £700 million a year – paid for through our increased fuel bills. What’s more, Drax’s conversion actually allows it to burn more coal long into the future. Even after the conversion they’ll be burning some 3.7 million tonnes of coal every year from opencast mines in the UK and imported from places like Colombia, where communities have been forced off their land for expanding mines.

Come along to our Drax AGM protest at 12 noon to call for an end to big biomass and coal, an end to subsidies that allow operators like Drax to keep profiting from destruction, and for genuinely climate and people-friendly alternatives. The protest will be outside the Grocers’ Hall, Princes Street, London EC2R 8AD where Drax’s AGM will be held.

To find out more about our other campaigns such as our efforts to stop more Green Bank funding for biomass see Banking on Big Biomassand for more information on coal-biomass conversions see our campaign page Coal-Biomass Conversions.